Survey: "Digital peer pressure" fueling drug, alcohol use in high school students
1. Survey: "Digital peer pressure" fueling drug, alcohol use in
high school students
Portrait of a young group of students paying attention in class. Yuri Arcurs - www.arcurs.com
istockphoto
(CBS News) Back-to-school season is just around the corner, and researchers at Columbia University
are warning that teens could face added drug and alcohol risks once classes start up.
In its 17th annual back-to-school survey, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University (CASAColumbia) finds that 17 percent of high school students - about 2.8
million U.S. teens - drink, drug and smoke during the school day.
Survey reveals shocking levels of teen drinking, drug abuse
"For millions of American teens, drugs and alcohol, not more advanced education, are what put the
'high' in the high schools they attend," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., founder and chairman emeritus of
CASAColumbia and former US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, in a press release. "For
millions of parents trying to raise drug-free kids, the 'high' school years are the most dangerous
times their children face, and the 'high' schools are a dangerous place to send their kids."
For the survey, 1,003 12- to 17-year-olds were interviewed at home by telephone, and were asked
general questions about their home and academic lives. Students were also asked about their
attitudes towards drug, alcohol and tobacco use, whether they or their friends engaged in these
behaviors and what role social media played in substance use.
The survey revealed for the sixth straight year that 60 percent of high school students said they
attended a "drug-infected" school, where drugs are used or sold on school grounds. Forty-four
percent of students said they personally knew a student who sold drugs at their school, with 91
percent of them saying marijuana was the drug that was sold and 24 percent saying prescription
drugs, followed by cocaine (9 percent) and ecstasy (7 percent).
The researchers looked closely at the role of social media in teen substance use and found 75
percent of surveyed 12 to 17-year-olds said seeing pictures of teens partying with alcohol or
marijuana on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace encourages them to party
similarly.